Safety water gauge



Sept. 27, 19:27.

Orignal Fi1 d Sep't 2. 1924 1,643,467 w. M. MYERS SAFETY WATER GAUG E 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sepi. 27, 1927.

UNITE STTES TENT FFQ WAR-BEN IYI. MYERS, OF SAGINA\V, MICHIGAN.

SA.FETY WATER GAUGE.

This inrention relates t water gauges, and puriiculurly to a water gauge 0r use on locomotives, this application being a continuution of application, Seria1 No. 735 382, led by me on the 2nd of September, 19 i.

()ne of the nbjerts of tne invcntion is to provirlc a water gauge s0 constructed that it nwy be readily observed fr0m at least three points within the. locmnotive cz1b, one from the right hand 0! engineers seat, 0ne from i.he leift hand 0r firemzins and one from the rear, this being in acrordance with therequirements of the 1:.

A furthur object is te provide. means \\liereby tlie. water gauge nmy e illuminated so tlmt the height of the water wi.hin the g;u.ago may be. rulily seen under ;r!l circumslullces A sill furtlxer IJbject. is in provic le a heus ing fox Uie gauge gluss the housmg be1 ng providvd in its upper :md 10\\r1 heads W1th \'(ill p0rts wheleby cool air may fiow up wurd info flie housing ;hrough the l0wer purts :nnl curry un y steaxn which may leuk pus t. the puckingand the gauge glass up wur l U tl1u upper port t0 thus prercnt thev .si;rht giasscs fr0m being obscured by con- (lunscd Yapor.

Anuther object is to proyide 1neans where by he Si;1ht glasses may be readily ren1oved :un1 particulnlyto s0 construct tlie sight gluss opcnings in the bottom head that (110 siglit glusses 1n:1y extend partiully through ihrso openings and bel0w the bot'tom heud s0 thut when a sight glnss sticks, it can be tapped at the bottom end to loosen it and then "ie siglit glass may readil; b pulled (uit 01 the top hl'ld und un0ther object in ths wnmrctiun is to bevel the lower ends of the sight glasses and the seuts on which H10 rest so that when the water glass breaks 0r blmrs out stmnn pressure cann0t get under thv li0\010 1 ends of the glasses and push these glnszws upwar i.

.-\nuthrr ubjert is to provide an iliuminat in; nwnns which is so Constructed that it 1n: l:r rendily renioved 0r replaced and HZ.\' l e usvd ns 21 trouble lamp, and in which th elcrtric lamp is so insulated that no h0l't rircuit can 0vcur.

Stil] zui0ther object is to provide a lamp which will illuminate 1he deck or fl00r of 1111. c ub sn tht hc fireman can shake grates, crack coal,.and clean the deck without any ray of light being in his eyes.

A further object is to provide a waste pipe extending from the water gauge, which pipe is redily removable but is normally held in place by a c0tter pin.

A stil] further object is to cast the nside 01 the case in ridges so thut ir. the water glass blows out the gluss wii1 come in con tact with these rough edges and be pu1verized an l 'thus pass G1 of the waste pipe without clogging it up.

Other objccls have to do wi'n ihe detais of construction and arrangemen of parts as will appear more fully hereinafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompunying druwings, wheroin;

Figure is verticul sectionai view diametriually thr mgh the gauge glass and through the lamp housing;

Figure 3 is u scction 011 the lin-c 33 of Figuro 2;

Figure 4 a fragmenury secti0n of the lower por'ti-un of the guug gass onthe 1ine 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an e1evation of the lower por ti0n IJ tlie gauge glass housing the lower end of the g unge glass proper and the hous ing Unref'or being in section the lower end of the housing being shown as fitted with an altornute type of connection to beemployed when the gauge glass is used with the ordinary 1na1e valve now in .use.

oferri1ig t0 these drawngs, it will be seen thut I have llnstrated a gauge glass f0i loconwtives wnc-rein tlm gauge g1ss is iuvnntmi uitnin u housing comprising the upper hmu 11 and the. 10\\pr head 12. These upper und 10u01 hends are. connected by IH(HHS m integral, angular corner pieces 13 whch. with tlre upper and 10\\e1 heads definv rect:mgnhrr oponings 1-1 within W11C11 u10 disposc. l1e sight glassrs 15. The lqwer heud is f0r1ned. as illustrated in Figure 4, with donnwardly tapering recesses 0r seats 1G. while the. upper head is formed with rectangular slots 17. The sight giassesat their upper and l0wer ends are tap ered on the side edges s0 as to provide two c0nverging side edges 18 and these tapekmg 'ends fit loosely within the seats 16. These sight giasses 15 are-Sufliciently thinner thzm the widtl1 of the seat 16 01 of the s10. 17 as to pern'xit the passage of air through the seat 16 and past the sight glasses 15, and the upper emls of the sight glasses fit within the slot 17 sufliciently loosely so that any air or steam may pass out. As a further means of preventing condnsation collecting on the gauge lass 10 or on the inside faces of the sight glasses and thus ohscuring the sight therethrough, I provide a port 11 in the upper head 11, which port in actual practice will have a diameter of approximately a quarter of an inch, and provide a plurality of ports 12 in the lower head 12, these ports extending through the lower head and open ing, ons adjacent each sight glass 15. These ports have preferably a diameter of threesixteenths of an inch. By provicling cold air ports, in the iower head and :I relatively large escape port in the upper head cool air will pass upward th'rough the lower head and will carry the steum out through the "upper head. This will prevent any steam 3triking the sight glasses and thus leaving the sight glasses c1ear at all times. These ports in the upper and lower head slant'so as to prevent any glass frorn heing blown directly out through these po rts in case of a lmrsting 0 the gauge glass.

1t will be noted that port 11" beinq nrrzm;5e .l to slant upward ami outward will dischargc any steani outwar l froin the housing in a dirertion away from the shut ofl' valve not shown which ordinariiy is located in the pipe betwen the nipple 43 and the steam space of the boilers, Thus, while steam is escaping through passage 11 the engineer can shut off the upper stcam valve without scalding his hands. This steam may come from either a broken water glassor from a 1eak around the gaskets 42. At the same time the passageways 11 and 12 permit air circuiation.

It is to be noted that as shown in Fig. 2 and F ig. 4, the lower heveled ends of the sight lasses project down below the lower face of the lower head and the sight glasses project {lb0V8 the upper face of the upper hearl, t hus in case it is desired to remove a sight grlass, the sght glass can he tapped at the lower eml with a piece of wood to loosen the glass and then inasmuch as the glass projtts abovc the top head, it ina v he readily p-ulled out. I t the sight glasses hal square lower ends, seating insi(le of the head or mercly resting upon the hottom of the lower hea(l in sockets or seats, thcn if the water glass or gauge glass 10 broke or hlcw out, steam, un ler pressure, Woiild get under the square end of the sight glass, forcing the sight glass upwzrd and outward, thus allowin; r steam water and broken glass to blow out into the cab with langer to the. Not enough steam pressure can get under the hevelecl end of my sight glass to move it upward asthere is not enough surface presented to permit pressure te move it.

If the water glass 10 breaks and steam will drive under the edge 16 and try to lift the glasses 15, but the upward force of the steam is dispelled as soon as the glass 15 starts to go upward because the beveled lower corners at once expose a triangular opening for the escape of the steam as shown in dotted lines in F igure 4, thus the glass 15 cannot'jump out through slot 17.

As shown in Figuies 1 and 3, the gauge glass is approximately a pentagon in cross Sectionand on four of its sides is provided with the openings 14 and. the sight glasses or panes 15, each of these sight glasses' being held in place by having its side edges engaged in grooves 19 in the sicle walls defining the openings 14. The corner ieces 13 extend iriward beyond these gauge g asses and the ribs 20 thus formeel are sharp-cornered. It will be understood that the hous ing formed by the upper and lower heads and the members 13 is preferably cast in one piece. This housing on its fifth sicle is formed to provide a vertical wall 21 from which extends downwarclly outwardly and laterally a waste pipe seetion 22 adapted to receive upon it the waste pipe sleeve 23. The upper end of this waste pipe sleeve and the lower end of the section 22 are formed with aligning apertures through which a cotter pin 24 may be passed, this cotter pin being prcvented .from loss by means of a chain 25 attached to the upper end of the waste pipe section 23.

The lower head 12 is formed with a downwarclly extending, internally screw-threaded flange 26, and this head 12 at one point and in front of o'ne of the openings 13 is laterally extended; as at 27, and foiln'd with a lamp housing, and this base is ormed with a downwarclly extending pin 32 adapted to pass through the aperture 28. This pin is preferablyscrew-threaded to keep vibration irom sh'aking the pin out of place. The lamp housing is not a complete circle but the material is so formed as to provide a longitudinal,ly extending slit 33 opposite a panc 15 so that the light may be directed inward and strike the gauge glass 10.

Particular attention is czmlled to the factthat the lamp base 30 by means of the ears 31 hohls the sheet metal housing 29 in shape at the lower end of slit 33.

The upper end of the housing is formecl by a cap 34 having a lownwardly extending annulur flange formed with bayonet joint slots 35 -engaging plus 36 projecti.ng from the housing wal] 29. The cap is alsoformed fernale connection 26. This male connection is provided with a short bore 59 of slightly greater size than the gauge glass. The lower end of the nipple is in the form of u female connection into which projects frmn the center of the connection a central positioning flange ernployedfor positioning paeking after the marmer of the supporting flange 53 hereinbefore descrilved. This lemale connection is fortl1e purpose of receiving the male valve above referred to and not herein illustrated and the entire connection has an axial centra] bore 61 of the same diameter as the interior of the gauge glass. It Will be obvious that the female connection may be em ployed for packing about the g-auge glass in the same manner as the upper end of the connection 45 is employed.

It Wlll be seen that the member 45 l10lds the packing rings 44 and 54 in place and that as the gage glass 10 extends down below the packing ring 44 and rests npon the seut 45 no packing can get 0%"er the water port and that the same is true with regard to the packmg 54 which cannot get up mer the portion This obstruction of the lower end of the gauge glass by paclring is quite common and leads to the scorching of boiler sheets. Thi z c.annot occur where the gauge glass exiends downward within the member 45 and rests upon the shoulder 45.

Attention is called to the advantages present in the use of the pars 45 and 46 With the gauge glass housing. Tl1e tap 46 communicute's with the boiler and has to stand a pressure of about 200 lbs. whieln is held back by the valve and its screw-threads 51 but not shown. T0 replace a broken gauge glass, the housng is discounected from the steam pipe 43 and rom the boiler tap 46 by unscrewing the coupling nipple 45. The housing may then be removed and held in the engineers hands. Tl1e new glass 10 is then inserted through the upper head and the packing plared around the glass and then the packing 44 is inserted around the other end of the gauge glass. Inasmuch as the housing is beng held in the engineer s hands, he can seen that no packing gets into the glass 10. Hethen inserts tlie packing 54 around the guide and ll1is prewnts any packing fron1 gefting into the water passage. 'll1en ln: l1olds the housing upright and SCI\YS the nipple 45 into the flange 52 and then conneets the nipple or coupling 45 with the boiler.

I claim 1. A Water gauge for steam boilers comprising a housing having opposed heads and connecting port1ons, the upper and lower heads havin sl0ts extending entirely through them, the ateral walls of the lower slots being convergent, and sight glasses disposed in said slots. said g'lasses at tl1eir upper ends extending through the upper slots and above the upper head and at thei r lower ends=being downwardly beveled on their lateral faces t0 seat on the convergenfi avalls oi the sl0ts in the l ower head and thesigl tjglasses extending below the lower head.

2. A water gauge for team boilers comprising a housing havinv bpposed heads and connecting portions, the) upper nd lower heads having slots, me lteral feces of eaclx slot in the lower he aq'lbeing downwardly convergent, sight glasses l1aving their upper ends disposed fhrougilrthe slots in tlxe upper l1eads and having tlieir lower ends beveled t0 rest up0n said convergent feces of the lower slots as up0n seats and extending below the lowerd1ead, botl the upper und lower slots haiing a eross soz:tionul uren greater than the cross sectionrl area of tlxe sigl1l glasses to thereby permit ir to enter the lower end gf the gzug glz1ss lmusing und pass upward aud outyvardaround lw Upper ends of the si;zht glasse.

gluss extendig longitudinplly through lllt housing. 111(l111100#115 f0r illuninating the gauge glu s eomprlsing u lamp lousing 0 =n at, its lower end and having u, elot acing toward lhe l l l i g of 1110 water diswlulrging 'liglt lnoijgh one of sad sglt glnses, the lower li(l of 1l1e gauge glus housing bei ng lilerall x extended ;md vertiez1ll r apert1red and the lamp housing lrav in; ra laterally xtending supporing brulel attuehed fo the outer wall f the housin;g and formled W(1l1 an integrul downwardl v projecting stud engageable in said aperture and Screwihreaded at its lower end.

4. A water guuge for steam boilers comprising a housing including transparent walls, a gauge glss extending longitudinal ly through the l 1osing and means for illu minating the gauge glass comprising e e)" lindrical lamp housing open at its lower end and luu"ing a longitudinelly exf"n(lin;f sl0t disclrargrng light toward tlw 2lli1j glil" housing, iid lamp housing u! l lower mul lmvirtg 1neans whereby it nm l e llllk'lllll) engaged with the gauge glass housng, l (znp detachably engagiing the upper end of the cylindiucal housing and having a eentrul uperture and n.flange eoncentric to the uper ture, an instlatine; bushingz disposed withn said opening of the ap and having an outwardly extending portion enguging sai l flange, sald bushing extending al ove the flange and below the inner; film: of the cup, and an electric lamp having a base insertible through smid nsulting bushng and hearing upon the upper end thereof.

5. AWler gauge for steam boilers comprising a housing having transparent walls :md including up r andlower heads :u1d porfi insconnecting the heads, a gange glass lui. 

